Steven LaTourette page @ RemoveRINOs - conservative republicans and independents replacing RINOs with Constitutional conservatives

Steven LaTourette

Voted TO OVERRIDE Bush’s 2007 veto of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion (ACU-6). This program was created in 1997 only to provide insurance to children from uninsured families who were narrowly above poverty. But 10 years later, the Dems moved to expand the program--and, as always, the devil was in the details. By joining forces with the Dems, he chose to do the following:

Re-define "children" to mean "21-year-old adults."

Re-define "just above poverty" to mean "$80,000 income."

Let some taxpayers pay for other taxpayers' insurance (even if the former make less than the latter and purchase their own insurance).

Give incentives for states to “recruit” new enrollees and thus make this big program even bigger. (Carney-1).

Voted FOR a 2009 bill to double SCHIP spending (ACU-17).   This insurance entitlement provides free coverage for enrollees whose incomes can be as high as triple the poverty level - the vote was viewed as an important step toward the kind of nationalized health care that was passed in March 2010. Also notable, the CBO estimated that nearly 80% of the children who were given free insurance under SCHIP already had private policies (Carter - NRO). To pay for the swelling program, this vote included a tax hike.

Voted AGAINST the surge: Had he gotten his way, we would have surrendered to Al Qaeda, granting them victory in their most clearly defined battlefield against us.

For an inside look at the importance of Iraq to Al Qaeda, please read the following report from the field, courtesy of Michael Totten and Colonel Mike Silverman: "Al Qaeda Lost"

For a poignant reminder of the hands into which he voted to leave the Iraqi people, please read the following post by Victor Davis Hanson: "Thyestean Feast."

Voted FOR raising minimum wage after the Dems rejected tax cuts that would have protected entry-level workers and small businesses (ACU-6) . For insights into the harmful effects the measure, in its House form, would have meant to workers and small businesses, National Review Online consulted with four leading economists. All four economists agreed that only politicians stood to gain from the measure : "At Minimum…Should Republicans fight back against a minimum-wage increase?"

Voted FOR Cash for Clunkers (ACU-17).

Voted AGAINST the right of workers to a secret ballot when voting on whether to unionize (ACU-6).

Voted FOR Pelosi's "light-bulb ban" that, as the ACU explains, regulates "lights and appliances (including a ban on the incandescent light bulb), creating new programs for alternative energy sources, imposing more regulations on energy companies and mandating vastly increased use of ‘renewable’ energy” (ACU 6).

Voted FOR Barney Frank’s Housing Trust Fund of 2007 (ACU-5), which Speaker Pelosi boasted as “the largest expansion in federal housing programs in decades” (Pelosi 1) and which the Bush administration opposed as “a duplicate program” that “would create an undue and counterproductive reliance on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac” (Woolley & Gerhard)

Voted FOR the 2007 Energy Policy that, according to the ACU, mandated reliance on biofuels while not allowing oil supplies to increase. The policy also stiffened regulations and raised taxes $2 billion (ACU-6).

Voted FOR applying McCain / Feingold to grassroots organizations (ACU-4) NOTE: Undoubtedly, in this instance, the dems were the good guys. This was GOP-sponsored and nearly ALL republicans voted for it. However, we at Remove the Rinos believe there is no excuse for voting against the 1st Amendment no matter how many republicans do so and no matter how reprehensible George Soros’ 527s are. And if John McCain were to jump off a bridge…..??

Voted AGAINST a 2006 conservative budget alternative that would have extended Bush’s tax cuts while trimming more than 300 billion dollars of discretionary spending, done away with close to 150 programs, and increased funds for the military and for veterans. It also would have opened ANWR for drilling (ACU-4) .

Voted AGAINST banning taxpayer dollars from going to the U.N. to renovate, or build anew, their headquarters in the United States (ACU 4).

Voted AGAINST military tribunals for enemy combatants.

Voted AGAINST an amendment to cut discretionary spending by 2% while protecting the Bush tax cuts (ACU 2).

Voted FOR raising CAFE standards (ACU-2) For a look at the link between higher CAFE standards and increased traffic fatalities, as well as the folly of the economic justifications for higher standards, see what Dennis Kneale has to say: "New CAFE" (CNBC-1)

Voted FOR spending an additional $100 million on Public Broadcasting (ACU 2).

Voted AGAINST reforming the Endangered Species Act (ACU 2). to reimburse property owners for losses suffered from not being able to develop their land. It also clarified species designations, better protecting the species in need of protection and better targeting the properties in need of oversight (Marano and Lieberman).

Voted AGAINST the Online Freedom of Speech bill, which would have prevented e-mail and blogs from being regulated by the Federal Election Commission (ACU-2). In essence, this bill's defeat leaves open the possibility that McCain/Feingold could reach its way dramatically into the Internet (Hayward).

Voted FOR a 700% increase in funding for the HOPE VI Public Housing Program, even as $2 billion remained in the coffers, unspent. This was a program that Bush had marked for elimination (ACU-8).

Voted AGAINST the 2008 Republican budget resolution that, according to the ACU, "would have made the Bush tax cuts permanent, capped discretionary spending at $973 billion, reduced mandatory spending by $12 billion over five years, and imposed a moratorium on pork barrel 'earmarks'” (ACU-8).

Voted FOR permanently raising taxes on businesses while temporarily extending tax credits on “green”
initiatives. This was presented to the American people as "tax relief" (a deed that the ACU appropriately
describes as "legislative sleight-of-hand") (ACU-8).

Voted FOR the economic stimulus bill of September 2008 (ACU-8).

Voted FOR bailing out the auto industry (ACU-8).Four months later, our president was firing CEOs. Either LaTourette favors nationalizing industry, or he's too short-sighted to deserve our trust. Either way, he's bad
for the G.O.P.